Beige Prose
In badfic, locations, people, and objects tend to be either overdescribed, described very poorly, or not described at all. Beige prose is woefully insufficient description. In goodfic and canon worlds untainted by horrible writing, the canon tends to support and flesh out people, places, and things that remain undescribed in the Words. Since they exist in a 3D world that runs on logic and good characterization, they by extension must have 3D features, too. When the canon is pulled out of shape by bad writing, however, the continuum cannot handle metaphorical and undescribed objects, locations, or characters nearly as well, and defaults to interpreting them literally. In very rare cases, it is possible for the prose to be so lacking in description it tints the canon in sepia tones. This problem usually fixes itself as everything returns to how it was in canon, however, so it is not a major concern. What to Expect from Lack of Description * Buildings made of Generic Surface, which is a gray, nondescript material. ** If it would be funny and the badfic is particularly fluffy, then instead of regular generic materials, surfaces and everything else in the world can be formed from glitter in whatever color would be appropriate for that particular story. * Characters eating Generic Food. * Generic characters. ** Generic Beasts (in Redwall), dull gray creatures with no identifying features. ** Undescribed humans and humanoids tend to be very pale and washed-out, or extremely nondescript in some other way (bland brown or blond hair; bland brown or gray eyes; average height; average build; average voice, etc.). ** Generic non-humans tend to default to their stereotypical appearances. * Entire Generic Settings, which tend to default to whatever is most probable for the world at the time (a generic forest in Middle-earth or Narnia; a generic planet or spacecraft in Star Wars; etc.). What to Expect from Poor Description Descriptions are not always completely missing. Sometimes they are simply woefully deficient ("a village"), misspelled or botched ("the bride of Khazad-Dum"), or just plain incorrect ("the castle of Rivendell"). Descriptions of this sort tend to play out literally. This can be dangerous, hilarious, or most likely both. It is also a good source of charges. Literal interpretation of bad descriptions can result in: * Location minis. * Creation or deletion of objects, people, and places. * Characters doing utterly absurd things. * Characters and/or places with utterly absurd appearances. * Headaches and large-volume Bleeprin consumption on the part of the agents. * Referral of particularly bad cases to DOGA to deal with cities, countries, or even entire solar systems that exist where they shouldn't. Taking Advantage of Poor Descriptions and Lack of Description Agents with a good sense of creativity or imagination (i.e., most of them) in poorly described Generic Locations can affect their surroundings by providing such descriptions. Known methods include saying the description aloud, concentrating on it mentally, or simply expecting to encounter something or someone (beware the Laws of Narrative Comedy!). Minis and characters created through botched descriptions can be recruited. If a dangerous situation or location has been created, it can be used to execute the Sue responsible. Ah, poetic justice. Examples * "Not Dead Yet" (Stargate SG-1), Agents Kaliel/Maeryn (DBS) with Agents Miah Arthur and Cali Still (DMS) ** Agent Maeryn uses a poorly described location to form a two-way mirror through which to observe a Stargate SG-1 badfic. * "Blood Raining Night" (Hetalia x Inuyasha x Legend of Korra x Hellsing x Princess Mononoke x Elfen Lied), Agents Supernumerary and Ilraen-Aroline-Fothergill (DIC) with Nurse Jennifer Robinson (FicPsych) ** Nume and Jenni take advantage of the presumed Japanese setting and anime theme to describe a hot spring into being. Category:Charges Category:Terminology Category:PPC Terminology Category:Writing Basics